Determining the impact of post-main-sequence stellar evolution on the transiting giant planet population

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bryant, Edward M., Van Eylen, Vincent
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Bryant, Edward M.
Van Eylen, Vincent
author_facet Bryant, Edward M.
Van Eylen, Vincent
contents The post-main sequence evolution of stars is expected to impact the exoplanets residing on close-in orbits around them. Using photometric data from the TESS Full-Frame-Images we have performed a transit search for exoplanets with post-main sequence hosts to search for the imprints of these impacts on the giant planet population. We detect 130 short period planets and candidates, thirty-three of which are newly discovered candidates, from a sample of 456,941 post-main sequence stars spanning the evolutionary stages from the end of the main sequence to the bottom of the red giant branch. We measure an occurrence rate of $0.28 \pm 0.04$% for short period giant planets orbiting post-main sequence stars. We also measure occurrence rates for two stellar sub-populations, measuring values of $0.35 \pm 0.05$% for a sub-population representing the earliest stages of post-main sequence evolution and $0.11^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$% for a sub-population of more evolved stars. We show that the giant planet occurrence rate decreases with increasing stellar evolution stage, with a larger occurrence rate decrease observed for shorter period planets. Our results are clear evidence that the population of short period giant planets is being sculpted by the post-main sequence evolution of the host stars, and we conclude that this is most likely through the destruction of these giant planets through the increased strength of planet-star tidal interactions resulting in the rapid tidal decay of the planets' orbits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_02896
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Determining the impact of post-main-sequence stellar evolution on the transiting giant planet population
Bryant, Edward M.
Van Eylen, Vincent
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The post-main sequence evolution of stars is expected to impact the exoplanets residing on close-in orbits around them. Using photometric data from the TESS Full-Frame-Images we have performed a transit search for exoplanets with post-main sequence hosts to search for the imprints of these impacts on the giant planet population. We detect 130 short period planets and candidates, thirty-three of which are newly discovered candidates, from a sample of 456,941 post-main sequence stars spanning the evolutionary stages from the end of the main sequence to the bottom of the red giant branch. We measure an occurrence rate of $0.28 \pm 0.04$% for short period giant planets orbiting post-main sequence stars. We also measure occurrence rates for two stellar sub-populations, measuring values of $0.35 \pm 0.05$% for a sub-population representing the earliest stages of post-main sequence evolution and $0.11^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$% for a sub-population of more evolved stars. We show that the giant planet occurrence rate decreases with increasing stellar evolution stage, with a larger occurrence rate decrease observed for shorter period planets. Our results are clear evidence that the population of short period giant planets is being sculpted by the post-main sequence evolution of the host stars, and we conclude that this is most likely through the destruction of these giant planets through the increased strength of planet-star tidal interactions resulting in the rapid tidal decay of the planets' orbits.
title Determining the impact of post-main-sequence stellar evolution on the transiting giant planet population
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.02896